Towel dispensing cabinet



April 4, 1939. c w|NTER 2,153,113

TOWEL DISPENSING CABINET Filed Dec. 50, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l a. f? Zfligir,

April 4, 1939. c, P, WINTER 2,153,113

TOWEL DI SPENS ING CABINET Filed Dec. 50, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 4, 1939. c. P. WINTER TOWEL DISPENSING CABINET Filed Dec. 30, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOWEL DISPENSING CABENET Application December 30, 1937, Serial No. 182,621

19 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in dispensing apparatus and more particularly to means for dispensing folded sheets.

The primary purpose of the invention is to provide improved means for dispensing single paper towels from a stack consisting of interfolded towels.

Another object is to furnish a towel dispensing cabinet in which the operation of a pedal or the like will serve to deliver a single towel from a stack of inter-folded paper towels.

A further object is to supply a towel dispensing cabinet so constructed as to insure the delivery of a single towel only from the stack during each cycle.

A still further object is to provide an improved towel dispensing apparatus including means to press on the stack and hold the same while towels are being pulled one at a time from the stack.

Another object is to furnish a towel dispensing cabinet of relatively simple, inexpensive construction, and one which may be charged with towels, and threaded with such towels by an unskilled person.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved cabinet.

5 Fig 2 is a front elevation.

Fig. 3 is another side elevation taken from the opposite side from that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

40 Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views illustrating the action of the hold-down means during the delivery of the towels.

45 Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view through one of the pulleys and showing a portion of one of the elastic belts.

Referring to the drawings, 9 designates a storage cabinet of any suitable type. It preferably 50 is an upstanding cabinet having side walls ill, a rear wall I I and a front l2 which may be opened or closed. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the front wall is of open ocnstruction and comprises oppositely disposed flanges I3.

55 As best shown in Fig. 5, the rear wall has a vertically disposed guide [4 fixed thereto and provided with oppositely projecting wings l5.

A towel platform or follower i6 is provided at its rear with channel shape guide members I'l, engaging the wings l5 for guiding the platform 5 upwardly and downwardly.

The platform is automatically raised by any suitable means. For example, a flexible cord or cable l8 has one of its ends secured to the plat form and its other end provided with a counter- 10 Weight Hi. The cable passes over a pulley 2!! arranged on the rear wall near the top of the cabinet.

To facilitate the introduction of a stack 2i of towels into the cabinet, a portion of the front 15 wall is movable. For instance, the upper sections 22 of the flanges l3 may be hingedly connected to the side walls at their" upped ends, and the lower ends can be detachably secured in place by thumb bolts 24. 20

After a stack of towels has been introduced into the cabinet, the upper end of the stack, by means of the counter-Weight I9, will be brought into engagement with the hold-down mechanism indicated generally at 25. This preferably consists 25 of oppositely disposed rocking levers 28 (forming the ends of a rectangular frame 26a) having their media] portions pivotally mounted at 21 on brackets 28 depending from the side walls into windows or openings 29 in such walls. Feet 30 and 3| are 30 pivotally suspended from the frame 23a. Each foot preferably consists of a U-shape member 32 having a horizontal plate portion 33, extending across the stack of towels, and upstanding end portions 34 which have their upper ends hinged 35 to the levers 23. The feet are arranged at opposite sides of the axis of pivots 21 so that one foot will engage the stack while the other foot is raised and vice versa (see Figs. 6 and '7).

The foot 30 carries a roller 35, and the foot 3! carries a similar roller 36. These rollers are oppositely disposed and horizontally arranged, and they extend in parallel relation across the upper portion of the cabinet.

For the purpose of guiding the feet and causing their flat portions 33 to remain in horizontal positions during travel, each foot is provided with a depending guide rod 31 (Fig. 1), and the lower ends of the rods slidably engage eyes 38 arranged at opposite ends of a bracket 39 secured to one of 5 the side walls of the cabinet.

In order to cause oscillation of the frame 28a. and alternate up and down movement of the feet,

a pitman 40 is provided. It has its lower end pivotally connected to the frame 26a at 4!, and its 5 upper end pivotally connected at 42 to a crank arm 43 fixed toa rotatable shaft 44. The shaft is horizontally disposed and extends across the cabinet above the rollers 35, 36 in parallel rela tion thereto. The shaft 44 is journaled in any suitable means. For example, it may be journaled in the side walls of the cabinet, and the shaft has fixed thereto a feeding roller 45 of considerably larger diameter than the rollers 35, 56. One end of the shaft projects through one side of the casing and through a sprocket wheel 46, and it is provided at its outer end with a ratchet wheel 41 that is fixed to the shaft. The sprocket wheel is loosely mounted on the shaft, and as best shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a pivoted pawl 48.

The sprocket wheel is actuated by any suitable means to cause rotation of the roller 65. For example, the sprocket wheel may engage a chain 49 connected at 50 to a treadle 5! that is pivotally connected at 52 to one side of the casing. The opposite end of the chain is connected at 53 to any suitable device 54 for returning the chain and sprocket wheel to the position shown in Fig. 3. Obviously the device 54 may be of pneumatic or spring type, and whenever the treadle Si is depressed to cause the roller 45 to rotate the device 54 will serve to retract the chain and return the sprocket wheel 46 and pawl 48 to the normal position shown in Fig. 3.

A fourth roller 55 extends across the upper portion of the cabinet above the feed roller 45, and it preferablyhas the ends of its shaft 56 extend ing through inclined slots 57 in the side walls of the casing. These slots are elongated and preierably substantially radiate from the shaft as so that the roller 55 has a tendency to always move toward the axis of the shaft 44.

Main feeding belts 58 pass about the rollers 45 and 35, and they preferably extend into grooves 59 in the rollers to prevent the belts from moving out of parallel relation. Other belts 60 pass about the rollers 36 and 55 and are staggered relatively to the belts 58 but are arranged parallel thereto. The belts 60 also preferably engage grooves 6| in the rollers 36, 55 for guiding purposes.

Each of the belts as shown at 60 in Fig. 8 is of elastic construction, for example, it may be formed of a loop of coiled spring wire. This will permit stretching of the belts to accommodate the reciprocating movement of the feet 30 and 3!.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be observed that the towels in the stack 2| are inter-folded in such manner that the trailing end 63 of a towel 64 that is to be dispensed first, and the advance end 65 of another towel 66 that is to be dispensed later, are arranged within the fold of an intermediate towel 61 that is to be dispensed second. With towels folded in this way, the leading end of the top towel of the stack is threaded between the portions of the belts 58 and 66 extending about the rollers 35 and 36. Then, if the pedal 5| is depressed and raised a number of times, it will cause movement of the belts and reciprocation of the feet 30 and 3| with the result that leading towels will be withdrawn from the stack while one or the other of the feet holds down the remainder of the towels in the stack. Eventually, what was the top towel of the stack will reach the position shown at 68 in Fig. 6,

where it can be grasped and pulled from the machine.

To facilitate detachment of the delivered towels from the roller 45, and to prevent the towels from winding on this roller, peeling fingers 69 project into annular grooves 10 of this roller.

These fingers preferably project upwardly and inwardly from a supporting bar II that extends across the front of the cabinet and has its ends secured to the sides of the latter as shown at 12.

While I have disclosed what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of the invention in such manner that the same will be understood by those skilled in the art, I am aware that changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for dispensing sheets from a stack of interfolded sheets comprising feed belts adapted to clamp the sheets and to pull them one after the other away from the stack, guide rollers for said belts, a hold-down mechanism operatively connected to one of said rollers and having oppositely disposed feet adapted to alternately engage the feed end of the stack, some of said guide rollers being movable in unison with the feet, and means for delivering sheets from one of said guide rollers.

2. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, means including feed belts for grasping the towels one after another, clamping them and delivering them one at a time from the feed belts, and a hold-down mechanism operatively con nected with said belts and adapted to alternately hold-down opposite portions of the stack as the belts feed the towels from the stack.

3. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, and movable means operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side while atowel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter.

4. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, movable means operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side while a towel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter, said movable means including a plurality of feet, and means for alternately causing the feet to move toward and away from said end of the stack.

5. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, movable means operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side while a towel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter, said movable means comprising a rocking member, and feet pivotally connected to the rocking member and arranged at opposite sides of the rocking axis.

6. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, movable means operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side While a towel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter, said movable means comprising a rocking frame, and feet pivotally connected to the frame and arranged at opposite sides of the axis about which the frame rocks.

7. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, and movable feet operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side while a towel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter, each foot being of substantially U-shape.

8. An apparatus for dispensing towels from a stack of interfolded towels comprising means for withdrawing towels one after another from. one end of the stack and from opposite sides of the latter, movable means operatively connected with said withdrawing means for alternately pressing against the end of the stack near each side while a towel is being withdrawn from that end of the stack at the opposite side of the latter, said movable means comprising a rocking member, feet connected to said member and arranged at opposite sides of the axis about which the member rocks, and means for guiding each of said feet.

9. An apparatus for dispensing inter-folded paper towels from a stack of the latter comprising means for grasping and withdrawing the towels one at a time alternately from opposite sides of one end of the stack, and alternately effective members operatively connected with said means and engageable with opposite sides of said end of the stack for pressing against each side of that end while a towel is being withdrawn from the other side of said end.

10. An apparatus for dispensing inter-folded paper towels from a stack of the latter comprising means for grasping and withdrawing the towels one at a time alternately from opposite sides of one end of the stack, and alternately effective members operatively connected with said means and engageable with opposite sides of said end of the stack for pressing against each side of that end while a towel is being withdrawn from the other side of said end, the last-mentioned means comprising a rockable frame, pressing members pivotally connected to said frame, and means for rocking the frame.

11. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, pairs of parallel feeding rollers, a rockable member, pressing members connected to the rockable member and having feet adapted to alternately press against opposite sides of one end of the stack, one roller of each pair being movable in unison with one of said pressing members, the other rollers having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about the rollers of each and arranged to clamp the towels as they are withdrawn one after another by the belts from the stack, and means operatively connecting one of the rollers to the rockable member for causing the last-mentioned member to rock in synchronism with the rotation of the rollers.

12. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, pairs of parallel feeding rollers, a rockable member, pressing members connected to the rockable member and having feet adapted to alternately press against opposite sides of one end of the stack, one roller of each pair being movable in unison with one of said pressing members, the other rollers having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about the rollers of each pair and arranged to clamp the towels as they are withdrawn one after another by the belts from the stack, means operatively connecting one of the rollers to the rockable member for causing the last-mentioned member to rock in synchronism with the rotation of the rollers, and means for peeling the towels from one of said rollers to deliver them from the last-mentioned roller.

13. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, pairs of parallel feeding rollers, a rockable member, pressing members connected to the rockable member and having feet adapted to alternately press against opposite sides of one end of the stack, one roller of each pair being movable in unison with one of said pressing members, the other rollers having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about the rollers of each pair and arranged to clamp the towels as they are withdrawn one after another by the belts from the stack, and means operatively connecting one of the rollers to the rockable member for causing the last-mentioned member to rock in synchronism with the rotation of the rollers, said rockable member consisting of a frame extending across the stack of towels.

14. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, pairs of parallel feeding rollers, a rockable member, pressing members connected to the rockable member and having feet adapted to alternately press against opposite sides of one end of the stack, one roller of each pair being movable in unison with one of said pressing members, the other rollers having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about the rollers of each pair and arranged to clamp the towels as they are withdrawn one after another by the belts from the stack, and means operatively connecting one of the rollers to the rockable member for causing the last-mentioned member to rock in synchronism with the rotation of the rollers, each of said pressing members consisting of a substantially U-shape element having a relatively long flat bar portion adapted to extend across said end of the stack of towels.

15. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising means for supporting a stack of inter-folded towels, pairs of parallel feeding rollers, a rockable member, pressing members connected to the rockable member and having feet adapted to alternately press against opposite sides of one end of the stack, one roller of each pair being movable in unison with one of said pressing members, the other rollers having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about the rollers of each pair and arranged to clamp the towels as they are withdrawn one after another by the belts from the stack, means operatively connecting one of the rollers to the rockable member for causing the last-mentioned member to rock in synchronism with the rotation of the rollers, and means for guiding the pressing members in parallel paths as they are moved by said rocking member.

16. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet containing a follower, means for automatically moving said follower toward a given point in the cabinet, said follower being adapted to engage and move a stack of inter-folded towels toward said point, a pressing mechanism arranged at said point and comprising a rockable frame provided with feet arranged. at opposite sides of the rocking axis, each foot being adapted to first engage one end of the stack and then to release that end of the stack, guide rollers, carried by the feet and arranged parallel to one another, other guide rollers journaled in the cabinet in spaced relation to the first-mentioned rollers and having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about said rollers and arranged to clamp and feed towels one after the other from said end of the stack, means adapted to be actuated by the operator for rotating one of the rollers having a substantially fixed axis, and means operatively connecting the last-mentioned roller to the rocking frame for actuating the rocking frame from the last-mentioned roller.

1'7. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet containing a follower, means for automatically moving said follower toward a given point in the cabinet, said follower being adapted to engage and move a stack of inter-folded towels toward said point, a pressing mechanism arranged at said point and comprising a rockable frame provided with feet arranged at opposite sides of the rocking axis, each foot being adapted to first engage one end of the stack and then to release that end of the stack, guide rollers, carried by the feet and arranged parallel to one another, other guide rollers journaled in the cabinet in spaced relation to the first-mentioned rollers and having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about said rollers and arranged to clamp and feed towels one after the other from said end of the stack, means adapted to be actuated by the operator for rotating one of the rollers having a substantially fixed axis, means operatively connecting the last-mentioned roller to the rocking frame for actuating the rocking frame from the last-mentioned roller, and means separate from the rocking frame for guiding said feet.

18. A towel dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet containing a follower, means for automatically moving said follower toward a given point in the cabinet, said follower being adapted to engage and move a stack of inter-folded towels toward said point, a pressing mechanism arranged at said point and comprising a rockable frame provided with feet arranged at opposite sides of the rocking axis, each foot being adapted to first engage one end of the stack and then to release that end of the stack, guide rollers, carried by the feet and arranged parallel to one another, other guide rollers journaled in the cabinet in spaced relation to the first-mentioned rollers and having substantially fixed axes, elastic belts passing about said rollers and arranged to clamp and feed towels one after the other from said end of the stack, means adapted to be actuated by the operator for rotating one of the rollers having a substantially fixed axis, means operatively connecting the last-mentioned roller to the rocking frame for actuating the rocking frame from the last-mentioned roller, the means actuated by the operator comprising a wheel loosely mounted on the shaft of the last-mentioned roller, means for turning said wheel, a pawl carried by the wheel, and a ratchet wheel engageable by the pawl and fixed to the lastmentioned shaft.

19. An. apparatus for dispensing interfolded paper towels from a stack of the latter comprising a cabinet adapted to support a stack of towels, means for withdrawing the towels one at a time alternately from opposite sides of the top of the stack, means adapted to be actuated by the operator for intermittently operating the first-mentioned means, and alternately effective upwardly and downwardly movable members operatively connected with the first-mentioned means and engageable with opposite sides of the top of the stack for pressing against each side-of the top of the stack while a towel is being withdrawn from the other side of the top of the stack.

COURTNEY P. WINTER. 

